Say You Don't Want It
by werty12
Summary: "I know your end of the bargain for doing all of my work. I'm going to teach you how to have fun, Granger, since you obviously have no idea how," Draco said with an annoying smirk on his face. "Get ready for the wildest time in your whole boring life."
1. always use the element of surprise

_**Say You Don't Want It**_

Summary: In exchange for getting Hermione to do his work, Draco teaches Hermione how to have fun. Hilarity inevitably ensues.

..

Set in their sixth year, not compliant with HBP because it's pretty much just a fun, fluffy mess and angsty Draco would put quite a damper on the situation. Yay! Based off of the song Say You Don't Want It by One Night Only. I'm in the process of rewriting/combining the first few chapters because they were trash. These are the first two chapters combined and rewritten (15-year-old writing and 18-year-old writing are very different).

..

**Chapter One**

Hermione sighed. "Go away, Malfoy. I honestly I don't need this right now," she said as she tucked a book in it's rightful place on the library's shelf.

"And I honestly don't care about your opinion, Granger" he said with a falsely high imitation of her voice.

She rolled her eyes. "You know, you'd think you'd be a bit nicer to the person you want homework answers from."

"I'm not calling you a 'Mudblood' am I?" he hopped easily onto a desk and leaned his back against a bookshelf. "I've been so good about that lately." He plucked a book from the shelf and started flipping through pages absentmindedly.

"Yeah, you've gone a full week. Congratulations," Hermione said sarcastically and found her place back at a desk to do her homework.

The number of people in library slowly dwindled. They were soon the only two still in the library, continuing to bicker while Hermione tried to focus on her work.

"I don't even know why I have to be in this stupid Muggle class, anyway."

"Well then why did you sign up for it in the first place?"

"I never turned the paper in and they put me in a random class," he said.

"Well, that's your reason there," she huffed as she turned the page.

"It's still not fair," he whined as if he were a child and not a teenage boy.

"Go vent your problems to someone else," she said, feeling irritation boiling up inside of her. "And it's a Muggle Lifestyle class, where people learn what-"

"-what it's like to live in a Muggle community, learn how to hide your magic, live like a muggle, bla, bla, bla. It's all a load of rubbish. Who would want to live with Muggles anyways?" he asked.

"Hey!" she said, not looking up from the parchment she was scribbling on, but her brows were furrowed (not in concentration, but from annoyance). "Living with Muggles isn't that bad."

"Oh yes it-"

Madam Pince cleared her throat and tapped her foot impatiently. "It's nearly 8 o'clock. You all better go up to your common rooms," she said, eying the two students. Hermione could see a minor look of surprise on her stern, pointed features. Everybody in the Hogwarts Castle, no, every wizard that knew either one of them, knew of their animosity. It made her go red in the face-she didn't want people to think her and Malfoy were any more than enemies.

"Yes Mrs. Pince," Hermione said and started to pack her things into her bag.

"'Yes Mrs. Pince'. Kiss ass. And anyways, yes, it _is _bad to live with Muggles, Granger. Wizards weren't born with powers to hide them and live amongst their inferiors.

When she didn't respond, went on. "Why do you even need to take this class?" he scoffed as she started to walk away. "You're a Mudblood, you know how these things work"

Hermione whipped around. "Ha! Looks like you couldn't keep up your record," Hermione said as she shook her head and ignored his question.

She basically ran back to the Gryffindor Tower in order to avoid any more Malfoy; she was well over her daily dose of him for the day. After spending five minutes arguing with the Fat Lady about why she had been out so late, she finally gained entrance to the common room.

The warm colors and the fire made her feel better immediately and she felt the ache of the day start to recede.

"Hey," she said as she plopped on the couch in front of Ron and Harry sprawled on the floor.

"Hey Hermione," Ron and Harry said in unison, not looking up from their heated game of Wizard's Chess. She wasn't an expert by any means at Wizard's Chess, but judging by Ron's frustrated look and absence of pieces on the board, it looked like Harry was winning.

Harry looked up for half a second while Ron was contemplating his next move. "Where were you?" he asked.

"Trying to do homework in the library, but Malfoy's bugging me again.I wouldn't have signed up for this Muggle Lifestyle class had I known there would be endless pestering."

Harry rolled his eyes.

"That git," said Ron half-heartedly. Most of his attention was towards the game. "Knight to E7."

"I know, and I didn't even get my Potion's Assignment done!"

"Hermione, that's not due for another two weeks," said Harry.

"I know!" Hermione huffed, as if that made perfect sense, but neither of the boys were listening because Harry triumphantly said, "King B12, check mate!"

_**..**_

"Alright class, it's time for a new project!" Mrs. Burbarge, the same teacher who taught Muggle Studies, said happily. She seemed to be the only one thrilled about it, because almost everyone else groaned.

Hermione, however, was almost more excited than the teacher and sat up straighter in her seat.

Draco rolled his eyes and absently rapped his Muggle pen (quills were forbidden, they had to use everything Muggles used) on his desk.

"But we've only been in this class for a week!" the overly pompous Ernie Macmillian squeaked

"I think it's actually a good way to kick off this class, don't you think?" she asked with a frown on her face from the lack of participation.

_No._ Draco thought bitterl, but he held his tongue; he couldn't risk getting expelled or having a note sent to his parents.

He tuned out the teacher's voice and focused on his own problem. He didn't know a thing about Muggles, and wasn't exactly eager to learn about them. He _had _to find a way for Granger to do all of the work for him. And if he had to trick her, he would do it. There was no way he was about to do this work, but he didn't want to fail either. He had even tried to get his father to switch him out of the class, but even though he had donated more money than Ron Weasley had ever thought of, it was futile.

He instantly started to listen again when he heard the teacher say something about partners.

And then, something happened that nobody in a million years would have thought, and it left people with their jaws dropped and Hermione almost falling out of her chair.

Draco Malfoy raised his hand.

"We will be having partners and-" but she she stopped. Even their Professor Burbarge was shocked at his participation and it took her a few seconds to call on him.

"Uh, yes, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked.

"Can we pick our own partners?" he said nonchalantly and pretended not to notice everybody gaping at him even though their stares were annoying the Hell out of him.

Draco stared right at Hermione, and he knew from the look on her face that she knew what he was up to. And she knew that he knew that she knew what he was up to, because she glared at him and said with her eyes, _'Oh, Hell no,' _and turned away. And he knew that she knew- well, you get the point.

Burbarge sighed after a moment. "I know I'm going to regret this, but you may choose your partners," she said. "Go ahead and go."

Draco ran over to Hermione so fast that he knocked down two desks, Ernie, and a poor third-year Hufflepuff girl in the progress.

"Hey, partner," he said, smirking.

"No," she said simply and turned towards Ernie Macmillian. "Hey Ernie," she said quickly, "would you like to be par-"

"Sorry, Macmillian, she's already taken," Draco said coldly and pulled Hermione towards her despite her resistance.

Ernie was so startled that all he could do was look at the two who were now fighting, Draco trying to pull her away and Hermionetrying (and failing) to back up with her feet.

"Let. Go. Of. Me." she said between grunts.

"C'mon! You know you want to be my partner, Granger!" he said desperately. "I need this!"

"No. Way!" she said said as she struggled. But she was no match, Malfoy was easily holding her in place.

"You know you'll just end up doing all of the work anyways, no matter who you end up with! So why not with me?"

"Weren't you listening to Professor Burbarge?" she asked, giving up and wrenching her wrists from his tight grasp.

"Actually, no."

"Well, this is worth a big portion of our grade, and I can't afford for you to mess this up! I know I'll end up doing all of the work, I always do. But I won't do it with someone that could potentially mess it all up."

"Hey, I'll just stand to the side and let you do all of the work," he offered, he was actually quite happy with that idea.

"I already said no!" she said and walked back to Ernie.

"Ernie would you-"

"No, Ernie will _not_! You're working with _me_!" he said and turned her around by the shoulders.

"I certainly am _not _working with you," she fired back, her voice growing steadily louder. They were starting to attract a small crowd.

"Yes, you will!" he said, oblivious to the people staring.

"NO! For Merlin's sake!" she yelled back.

"Yes."

"I'm with Ernie!"

"Uhh...Her-" Ernie started.

"YES."

"NO!"

"Hey guys, I-" Ernie started.

"Shut up!" Hermione and Draco yelled together.

"If you'll work with me, I swear I'll leave you alone for the rest of your life!" Draco pleaded, he had lost all of his pride and dignity the second he started begging Granger for homework answers, so he figured he had nothing to lose at this point. He would get on his knees if he had to, he could not get bad marks in this class. He would make sure that he got his way no matter what the costs.

"Yea, right. And why should I trust you?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"You can't," he said truthfully.

"So then-"

"HERMIONE!" Ernie yelled.

"What?" she shrieked.

"I already have a partner," he said quietly.

The room was dead silent. Twenty pairs of eyes including the Professors were staring in her direction.

Hermione then exhaled noisily then turned to Draco. She could feel how red her cheeks were getting. He could just read her answer in her exasperated face.

"Hey, partner," he repeated, grinning.

_**..**_

Hermione didn't realize she fell asleep until she woke up in the library. There was a gigantic book (her 'light reading') sprawled across her face and she was sitting in her favorite nook. Well it _was_ her favorite nook, but she was considering relocating because that's where Malfoy always went when he needed to get answers from her.

She wasn't one to fall asleep while working, but arguing with Harry and Ron was very draining.

"_Malfoy? The enemy? How could you work with him, Hermione?" Harry had asked as he paced back and forth in the common room._

"_You guys, I-" _

"_Harry's right. He could be dangerous," Ron interjected as he nodded._

"_He's not going to-"_

"_He might. I mean, you never know with Malfoy. His father's a Death Eater." Harry added. She suddenly felt an awful like Ernie Macmillian and felt a little bad for cutting him off so many times._

"_Look, it's not that big of a deal-" Hermione groaned._

"-_Oh yes it is, Hermione-" Harry interjected. _

"_No it's not. It's a project, and I'll be doing most of the work anyways."_

"_But-"_

"_No."_

"_But I-" Rom tried._

"_Don't even say it, Ronald."_

"_What if he...like wants to do something worse to you?" Ron asked._

"_Oh, shut up. I'm a big girl, I can handle things just fine myself."_

Hermione blinked and rubbed her eyes. It had taken a great deal of time for them to finally be alright with the fact that she was working with their enemy.

She was interrupted from her thoughts because she noticed it was dark. The moon shone beautifully and peacefully through the window and onto the rippling lake. But she felt anything but peaceful, because she was out after hours. She didn't want to be caught out after hours especially since she was a prefect.

As she was hurriedly stuffing her bag with books, she heard an all-too-casual voice from behind her that nearly made her jump out of skin.

"My, my, you're up late, Granger," Draco drawled as he looked at his wristwatch.

Hermione shrieked so loudly Draco had to run and cover his hand over her mouth.

"Shut up, shut up! Filch will hear you!" he hissed.

Hermione glared and bit down on his hand.

"Ow! You filthy little Mudblood," he shrieked as he shot his hand back and whimpered like a child.

She rolled her eyes. "Really, Malfoy? You can get much more creative than that. That 'Mudblood' line is getting a little old. What happened to not saying it for a whole week?"

"Shut up, Granger," he said, but he was a bit offended. Of course he could come up with good insults! "And you're about as pretty as a Blast-Ended Skrewt," he said, pleased with his insult.

Hermione was not impressed.

"Is that all you've got? Honestly, Malfoy, where did you learn your comebacks from?" she scoffed.

"I...Uh..."

"And I think the _real _question is why are you here watching me sleep?" She asked, looking up from her backpack that she finished packing. She slung it over her shoulder.

"First of all, I was _not _watching you sleep. I don't fancy seeing a Mudblood sleep. I was walking the halls when I heard extremely loud snoring, so I went to investigate."

"I do not snore!" Hermione said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Do too," Draco said.

Hermione her eyes. "How old are you? Five?"

"Young enough to have fun," he said.

"Hey!" she yelled. "I have plenty of fun!"

"Really? Because most people don't find studying late into the night or finishing homework a month before it's due fun."

"That's ridiculous! I have more fun than that!" she said, biting her lip.

Now it was time for Draco to roll his eyes.

"Really, and what do you do for fun? That doesn't include school," he said, confidently. He knew she wouldn't have a good response.

"Simple," she said, shrugging. "I read."

This time he laughed out loud. "Read?" he asked incredulously. "Honestly, Granger, you need to get around more. There is much more than books and school, you know."

"Thanks for the words of wisdom, Malfoy," Hermione said sarcastically and started to walk away.

He trotted behind her. "Now, think about it. What fun do you have besides your weird ways of fun?"

She ignored the insult and said after a moment of thinking, "I like to talk to Ron and Harry."

"Really?" he asked, "That's all? And what do you talk about? School? Your overwhelming urge to snog the brains out of that weasel?"

"Hey! This is getting way too into my personal life, Malfoy. Why don't you just go away?" she asked, glaring at the blond wizard that was really getting on her nerves.

He smirked at her obvious annoyance. He raised a pale eyebrow. "Really? Do you even _have _a personal life?"

"Of course I do! I-"

"Wait! I've got it!" he said as if he was the smartest man in the world.

Hermione groaned in frustration. How could she get away from him?

"Since we both know there's no way in Merlin's beard that I'm going to stop asking you for answers to everything, I know your end of the bargain for doing all of my work."

Hermione stopped. "I'm _not _going to do all of your work."

"Get ready for the wildest time of your life, Granger," he continued, "because I'm going to teach you how to have fun. Since you obviously have no idea how."

"I do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Ugh!"

_**..**_

"You guys?" Hermione asked tentatively as she twirled a brown curl around her fingers at the dinner table. Her plate of food stood stared back at her, untouched.

"Hmm?" Harry asked absently as he continued to sketch a broomstick on a piece of parchment.

"What 'ermine?" Ron asked as he continued to stuff his face with spaghetti. Hermione gave him a disgusted look before continuing.

"Do you guys think...I don't know how to have fun?" she asked, biting her lip.

Harry and Ron seemed to become extremely more interested in what they were doing.

"You guys?"

"'Orry 'emrine mouf full. Can't talk," Ron said as he took half of the spaghetti off his plate and in his mouth.

"Never stopped you before," she mumbled. "Harry?"

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Do I not know how to have fun?" she pushed, her voice growing more nervous.

He gasped. "Hermione! Did you get a haircut? It looks great!"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Harry! Can I have fun or not?"

"Seriously, it looks so much nicer that length," he said without looking up from his paper.

"You guys, you can say that I don't know how to have fun," Hermione said as she threw her arms up in the air.

"Okay, you don't know how to have fun," Ron said as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

Hermione glared at the two.

Harry raised his hands in defense. "He said it, not me."

_**..**_

"At least pretend like you're doing work!" Hermione snapped as she tinkered with a microwave; they had to fix an appliance for part of their project. Draco had hurriedly ran up to the front of the room and grabbed the smallest appliance available to fix, but it seemed it be one of the most complicated. Though she didn't like to admit it, it was actually pretty difficult even though it was she had used it countless times before.

"Oh, shut up. You have been much more moody than usual lately," Draco said as he rocked back and forth in a chair, getting dangerously close to falling.

"You know, you're going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that," Hermione said in her usual know-it-all tone.

"'You know, you're going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that,'" Draco mocked in a falsely high voice.

Hermione scowled. "Honestly, quit acting like a first year," she said.

"'Honestly quit acting like a first year,'" he mocked.

As he was laughing, she glared and pushed his chair back and he fell with a loud 'thump' to the floor. Professor Burbarge glared at them from their desk.

He got up and dramatically gripped his elbow in pain. "You. Are. So. Going. To. Pay. For. That. Mudblood," he said between his teeth.

"So we're back to the uncreative 'Mudblood' term are we? When are you going to realize I don't care that you call me that anymore?" she asked.

He growled. "Well, you're still going to pay," he said.

"Really, how so?" she asked in amusement.

"Tonight, in our lesson of course," he said.

"What are you going on about now, Malfoy?" she asked, never looking up from her screw driver and microwave that she was slowly getting frustrated at.

"Our lesson tonight. When I teach you how to have fun," he stated.

"You weren't serious about that," she said.

"Oh, yes I was."

"Well, how exactly am I going to 'pay' if I'm supposed to be having fun?"

"Oh, you'll see. Meet me outside by the fountain tonight at twelve," he said in all seriousness.

"You are utterly ridiculous, Malfoy," she said as she turned a tiny screw, which resulted in the whole microwave collapsing into parts.

Over Malfoy's howling laughter, Hermione shrieked, "How is that even possible?"

**..**

"Ah, Granger. I knew you'd show up," Malfoy said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

She glared at him. "Whatever, what are we doing?"

She knew it was against her best judgement to go, but it really had bothered her that her friends thought she didn't know how to have fun. She had asked her roommates, too, and they had all just shut their four-poster curtains instead of answering.

"Oh, you'll see," he said as he walked at a quick pace towards the direction of the lake. Hermione didn't move.

He looked back at Hermione and sighed "Are you coming or not, Granger?" he asked impatiently.

Tentatively, she walked towards him.

"For the 'Brightest Witch of Her Generation' you're pretty daft," he said as they neared the edge of the lake and started to walk around the perimeter.

It was actually quite nice outside, it was warm and there was a slight breeze that blew Hermione's hair across her face. She felt a little uneasy being out in the open, but she could easily say that they were on prefect duty if they got caught. The weather was too glorious for her to be too worried about anything.

"Now, you and I both know that I would rather be anywhere but here, and that spending my days with a Mudblood-"

"Ha!" Hermione said pointing at him. "You said it!"

He ignored her. "-would be more than frowned upon by my family. So, these meetings will always be in secret, and this is not going to change a thing between this. But you know, I don't want to go to Hell so I have to be nice at least once a year."

Hermione grunted. "You call this nice?"

Again, he ignored her. "So, having fun tip number one, always use..." he started, but he didn't finish his sentence, because in one fluid motion he picked Hermione up and easily threw her in the lake, clothes and all.

She shrieked when she hit the cold water, and Draco tore off his shirt and kicked off his shoes. He jumped in after her with a splash.

"MERLIN, MALFOY" Hermione yelled as she returned to the surface and pawed at the wate. "HOW DARE YOU THROW ME IN!" she said as she gasped for breath.

"I know, touching a filthy Mudblood, what was I thinking? Lesson one, always use the element of surprise."

"OH, YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT!" she said as she tried to swim towards him, but he easily glided ahead of her.

"I certainly don't find this fun, Malfoy!" she said, but she was running out of breath and couldn't keep up.

He was howling with laughter."Well I do," he said and splashed her face. She splashed him back.

Before long, there was an all out splashing war between the two. Water was flying everywhere and they were making such a ruckus that any fish within a 10 foot radius swam away, frightened.

"I hate you, Malfoy!" Hermione yelled.

He laughed, "Oh, likewise Granger."

But they were so distracted and immersed in water that they didn't notice the Head Boy walking over.

"Who's out there?" he yelled towards the lake. Hermione felt the color drain from her face.


	2. laugh at the misfortune you've caused

**Chapter Two **(rewritten)

Hermione felt her stomach do an unsettling lurch. The water felt colder and all of the fun she had previously had dissipated.

She saw Draco take a big intake of breath and dive under the black waves. The second his head disappeared she could no longer see him.

_That is so like him...just leaving me here_, she thought bitterly as she tried to stay hidden through the blackness of the night. She started to panic when she saw the Head Boy's wand illuminate.

She gasped as she felt a sharp tug on her left arm, and she was pulled underwater. Despite the blackness, she could barely make out the pale hand dragging her along. Usually, she wouldn't trust him, but he had gotten into so much trouble that he had to be the master of getting out of anything by now.

Hermione felt her lungs screaming for air; she couldn't last much longer without taking a breath. Just as she finished her thought, however, they resurfaced. They weren't outside anymore but in a small, muggy cave that could only be reached by swimming. Hermione noisily catching her breath echoed in the cave, causing Draco to slam his hand over her mouth again. And again, she bit him.

"Quit doing that, I don't want your filth to rub off on me!" he hissed.

"Then quit putting your hand over my mouth! Wouldn't 'shh' be suffice?" she whispered. "And you would be lucky if even just a bit of my filth rubbed off on you," she added.

"Shh, he can still hear us," he whispered.

As if on cue, the Head Boy said, "Who's there? I see clothes, show yourself!" he yelled from outside. They could hear him loudly groan and retreat. Before Hermione could realize what she was doing, she giggled slightly.

"Tip number two," Draco breathed. "Almost get caught. _That _is how to have fun."

Even though she knew they shouldn't be breaking the rules (as prefects, no less), she couldn't help but admit that the adrenaline rushing through her veins was the most refreshing thing that had happened to her in months. The blood rushing through her cold body made her tingly, and, most importantly, _alive_.

She couldn't, however, deny the severity of the situation.

"Oh man, am I going to kick your ass," Hermione said as she splashed him. She was a bit shocked that she blurted that out; she rarely swore.

"I saved you, for your information," he retorted and splashed her back.

"Why did you, anyways? You never would have before."

"Well, my clothes are out there, and if he found you he would know there was a guy in the lake, too. He would ask who else was in there, and if you wouldn't tell he would use Veritaserum-"

"-I highly doubt he would use Veritaserum-"

"-And then I would be stuck in this cave for ever- having to eat raw fish for the rest of my life and-"

"-You wouldn't be trapped in here. You-"

"-I mean, I don't even like fish."

"Alright, alright, I get it," Hermione said. "Moral of the story is that all of this was to save your own neck, right?"

"Precisely," he said as he shook his hair blond hair like a dog.

"How did you find this place, anyways?"

"Oh Pansy and I go here all the time," he said with a smirk on his face. "We would-"

"Okay! You can stop there," she said before changing the subject. "I can't believe we almost got caught! Do you know how much trouble we could have gotten in?"

"Do you know how much _fun _that was? That's the best part, almost getting caught. Remember rule number two."

"It is not! That was insane, we could have been given detentions, stripped of our badges, expelled."

He rolled his eyes. "You need to lighten up Granger, there is much more to life than school. Be a kid, get in trouble, have _fun_. That's what these 'lessons' are all about. It's not just me wasting some time with a Mudblood, it's your end of the bargain, and you can take it or leave it," he said.

"Though I will admit that was quite a rush, I think it's best to leave it."

He scoffed. "Fine. Have no fun at all in your life. Lock yourself in your room to read and fantasize about Weasel all day long," he said.

"I do _not _do that!"

"You do too," he said.

"Do not!"

"Are we really going to start this again? You know what I think the real reason you don't want to do this?" he asked, pausing dramatically.

"Go on."

"I think you're scared."

She laughed. "I'm certainly not scared."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"That's kind of the point of being a Gryffindor."

"Then why aren't you going to continue having fun?"

"Because we could get caught," she said.

"Aha! See, you're scared to get caught!"

"I..." she had no idea what to say.

"One last thing before I get the Hell out of this uncomfortably tight space with my enemy that doesn't appreciate a single thing I do," Draco said. "You may be a Gryffindor, but you live your life in fear. You need to take risks, if you don't you won't have any fun. Thirty years from now, you're going to regret it."

"Again with the words of wisdom," Hermione said sarcastically.

Draco took his wand out of his pocket. "You are quite infuriating, Mudblood. Lumos," he said, and dived underwater with his lit-up wand. Hermione groaned and rubbed her temples.

Hermione took a deep breath and followed his light under the water. The coolness felt good against her skin and the tranquility of the water made her feel at ease. They climbed out of the water and Malfoy slipped on his shoes and shirt. The wind was now cold on her skin and they parted without saying a word, Hermione shivering.

**..**

"It has come to my attention," said Dumbledore the next morning at breakfast, silencing the chatter and the clink of silverware on plates, "that someone decided to take a leisurely swim in the Black Lake last night. If anyone has any idea of who that might be, please let me know right away. Return to your breakfast," he said. Before sitting down, Hermione could have sworn his eyes flickered to hers.

"I'll bet it was Malfoy," said Ron as he took a bite of toast.

Hermione locked eyes with Malfoy at the Slytherin table. Ron wasn't entirely wrong.

_**..**_

Hermione wanted to cry in frustration as she tried to put the pieces of her microwave together, and Draco's snide remarks weren't helping at all.

"'The Brightest Witch of Her Generation' having trouble with a puny little _Muggle _object...quite pathetic, actually."

"Nobody asked for your input, Malfoy," Hermione huffed as she cut a wire. Sparks emitted from it, shocking her. "Oww!"

Draco laughed. "Pretty sad, you are. Do you realize that everyone's ahead of us? You need to pick up the slack, Granger. I expect better from you."

Hermione glared daggers at him. "You do it then, if you're so clever," she said as she handed him the instructions and a screwdriver.

"What in Merlin's name is this?" he asked.

"Those are instructions," she said slowly. "You read them and they tell you what to do. You _can _read, right?"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course I can read; I'm not an idiot. I'm talking about this Muggle tool," he said, looking at the screwdriver.

"A screw driver, it turns screws to fix things."

"...Screw?"

"You're hopeless. Just read the instructions," she said, and shoved the thick book in his hands.

He read about two lines then stopped. "Alright, I got bored," he said and threw the book towards Hermione. "We're wizards, so we do it the wizard way. Instead of spending hours on one stupid Muggle contraption that I have no idea what the purpose is, we simply do this." He pulled out his wand. "Reparo," he said.

The microwave parts assembled on it's own accord and the screws went into their respective places.

"I know how to do a 'Reparo' spell, that's elementary. But the whole point is to do it the Muggle way; that's the whole purpose of this class."

"Well, I think this class is stupid," he said.

"But now we're going to get a bad grade!"

"Did anybody see that? No, I didn't think so. Macmillian is practically inside that, what's it called? A refriger gator? Does it have anything to do with alligators?"

"A _refrigerator_," she corrected.

"Anyways, he's doing that. Finnigan is setting something on fire, as usual. Burbarge is writing a love letter to a Muggle-"

"-I'm pretty sure she's grading," Hermione intervened.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. My point is, nobody knows that I fixed it with a spell," he said. "For all they know, I did it with my own two hands and my clever mind," he said and tapped his head.

"But that would be..._cheating_," she said and whispered the last word as if it were a swear word.

"Rule of fun number three," Draco said as he tucked his wand away.

"Here we go again..." Hermione mumbled.

"Always cheat or find a way to get out of work, so you can spend more time having fun," he said, "I've been doing that since first year, and it's gotten me places."

"Well, did you ever think that maybe I _wanted_ to learn how to fix that?" she asked.

"Oh, puh-lease," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "You were so frustrated you almost smashed that thing into tiny pieces. Well, tinier than they already were," he said.

Hermione sighed. "So what's your point?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"My point is that you still have much more to learn on the art of having fun. Our next meeting will be today at lunch, in the library," he said as he picked up the microwave to bring to Professor Burbarge.

"Certainly not," Hermione said. But either Draco ignored her, or he didn't hear her, because he didn't reply.

**..**

Draco held up a random book on the genealogy of dragons to cover his face. Only his eyes were visible and they were surveying the library for targets. Hermione mimicked this action, so the only thing the students in the library could see were two sets of eyes.

"Those second years are watching us," Hermione whispered apprehensively.

"They're only second years, they probably don't even know who we are. They won't spread anything," he said.

"If you say so," Hermione said as they reluctantly put down their books.

One of the second years (a Ravenclaw) gasped.

"Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy together?" one of them whispered in agreement.

"Oh, I can't WAIT to spread this around!" another chirped.

"How long have they been together?" the other girl asked.

Hermione stared in horror, then picked her enormous book up to cover her face again.

"I told you!" Hermione hissed.

"Wow, she's so lucky, he is _so _hot!"

"Though you speak nothing but the truth in that last statement, do you realize we can hear you?" Draco said as he glared at the girls, all of them blushing profusely. "And before you get too excited, we're working on a project. So you can keep your comments to yourself," he added. One of them nodded in fear. "Second years..." he mumbled, before putting his book back up. "Now, let's get back to our real targets," he whispered, staring at a group of third years that were out of earshot. He turned to Hermione, who wasn't looking over her book.

"Oh, come on, _Gryffindor_," he said. "Look up."

She looked up to see the group of girls giggling amongst themselves.

"You see that cute one?" Draco asked.

"The one with the brown hair, glasses, and freckles?" she whispered.

"That's the one. And in a second, she's not going to be so cute," he said and ducked his head so he was no longer visible to them. He pointed his wand at her from under the table and shot a non-verbal spell at the girl.

In seconds, thick, purple boils sprouted all over her face, causing her friends to shriek.

"What?" the girl demanded frantically. "What's wrong?"

"Your face...your face!" the girls said, jumping around wildly.

"Rule number four," he said behind their book wall. "Laugh at the misfortune you've caused," he said.

"Malfoy, that's just plain mean! Make it stop!"

"It's alright, Pomfrey will; it's easily fixed. They'll stay on her face for three months, tops."

"Three months?! That poor girl! Change her back, change her back!" Hermione panicked.

"Relax, Granger, I'm only joking. You're so gullible. They'll only stay for about an hour. But isn't it funny to see her friends jump around like dolphins?"

"No, it's not, it's just plain cruel!" she said.

"Hey, it gave me an incentive to learn non-verbal spells so it's not completely a bad thing," he offered.

Hermione opened her mouth to respond but was cut short.

"Who did this?" one of the girl's friends, a Slytherin, yelled. Her nostrils flared and to say she looked angry would be an understatement.

Madam Pince shushed her but that did not stop the fire in her eyes.

"Act natural," Draco whispered out of the corner of his mouth. Hermione sat up unnaturally straight and pretended to read a book with her legs sprawled across Draco's lap.

"How on Earth is that natural?" he asked incredulously. "We hate each other." He pushed her legs off of his lap and pretended to read as well with a more relaxed face and demeanor.

"Well _sorry_," she whispered frantically. She could feel the blood pulsing through her veins. Even though that girl was four years younger than she, she was much bigger.

"Oh, just read your book and pretend like we were doing that the whole time," he said underneath his breath.

The Slytherin approached and studied them.

"Can we help you?" Draco asked, annoyed.

"Yeah! Don't mind us, just working on our project!" Hermione said a bit too cheerfully.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Did you do that to her?"

"Do what? What do you mean, did somebody get hurt?" Hermione asked in a bad falsely-innocent voice. Draco kicked her under the table.

"Sorry, she's a bit slow...under the effects of a potion gone terribly wrong. It should wear off in a while... Hey! Those second years look pretty guilty!" He said, pointing towards the group of girls.

With the flame still in her eyes, she walked over to practically strangle the girls.

Even though Hermione felt bad, she looked at Draco and laughed behind her book.


	3. quit being scared of everything

**Chapter Three**

"Are you _serious_?" Draco asked said as he walked in and saw Hermione trying to put together the same microwave.

She nodded absently as she chewed on her tongue in concentration. "I didn't want to cheat," she said.

"I think you're just stubborn. You'd lose sleep over something you knew you couldn't conquer."

Hermione didn't answer, just continued to assemble the pieces out of frustration. "These instructions are so confusing!" she mumbled to herself.

"I was talking to you, Mudblood," he said.

"And I wasn't listening, _Mafloy_, and last time I checked, my name isn't 'Mudblood'. Haven't we been through this?" she replied.

Draco glared causing Hermione to snort in response.

That made Draco angry. "You know, snorting isn't very lady like, _Granger_. No wonder Weasel will never like you as much as you love him," Draco said, playing with a microwave part.

"You know, it's not attractive to glare. Hey! Don't touch that!" Hermione hissed as she tried to yank it out of his hands. But he was taller, and could easily hold it above her reach. "You'll break it! Malfoy, _stop_! That part is important!"

"Then come and get it, _Mudblood_," he sneered as he still held it above her reach, taunting her.

"Stop acting like a child!" she said and tried to jump.

"'Wow, Granger, this is quite pathetic. Maybe next I should teach you how to jump."

"I don't need you to teach me anything, now just give me the part so we can get a good grade!" she grunted.

"At the rate we're going, we won't be getting a good grade anyways," he said.

"Fine," she huffed. "Accio!" she said, pointing to the part, but Draco grasped it firmly.

"I'm afraid that's against the rules, Granger," he said with a slight smile. He was really milking everything for all it was worth.

"Why won't you give me the part?" she asked desperately.

"Because I want something from you," he said.

She sighed impatiently. "Malfoy, what more could you possibly want from me?"

He shrugged. "It's...nothing really..." he drawled. "I need you to do a favor, for a friend of mine-"

"Wait, you have friends?"

He scowled. "Of course I do. I, unlike you, have a social life. But that's besides the point, I need you to do something for my friend, Blaise," he said.

"What?" Hermione asked, flustered.

"Her likes this one chick...a Ravenclaw, I believe. 'Chi Chung' or something like that. Are you familiar?"

"Cho Chang, yes, I'm familiar," she said, nodding slowly, but in her mind just finding ways to snatch the vital part.

"Well, I need you to-" he said, but he was cut short because Hermione was..._tickling _him. Right on the sides.

"Mudblood. I-I can't. I can't take it. Stop! Stop!" He said between laughs. It really was an amazing sight, seeing Draco laugh, but of course he couldn't help it because nobody knew (except for Hermione now, of course) that he was extremely ticklish. His rare moment of vulnerability was something that made everyone in the class turn their heads.

But Hermione's devious plan worked, because he dropped his arms to sides and she was able to wrench the object from his grasp.

"HOW _DARE _YOU, YOU FILTHY LITTLE MUDBLOOD, DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME!" Draco yelled louder than Hermione had ever heard before.

Before Hermione could reply, however, Professor Burbarge cleared her throat behind them. They both turned around slowly to see the Professor with her hands on her hips and glare probably more menacing than Lord Voldemort's.

"Detention, Mr. Malfoy, for saying that foul word in my class, I find that _very _insulting," she said, scowling.

Draco swallowed and with a sinking feeling in his stomach he realized that she was also a Muggle-born.

Hermione grinned smugly.

"And detention, Ms. Granger, for focusing on 'tickling' the boy you admire instead of focusing on your work. In fact, you haven't even completed your microwave yet!"

That wiped Hermione's grin off of her face very quickly. "Professor, I assure you, I do _not _admire that awful boy one bit, and the only reason I was tickling him was to get back the part that he took from me!" She tried to sound firm, but her word came out like squeaks.

"Then you should have come to me instead of acting so childishly, detention for both of you, my room, tomorrow, after dinner," she said.

Hermione gaped at her. "Me? Childish? _He's _the childish one here."

She just sighed and walked away. "My room, tomorrow after dinner. Get back to work." she repeated over her shoulder.

Draco grinned evilly and whispered. "Yea, Granger, stop being so childish," and he took the part from her hands.

She was about to respond but he continued. "Oh, and since we have detention tomorrow, all thanks to you, we will have to move your 'fun' lesson to tonight, same place as the first time."

"Yea, right," she mumbled, but they both knew she would go.

..

Hermione quietly crept down the stairs trying not to wake anyone. She felt as if each sound was magnified: the sounds of her steps, her breathing. She was probably just being paranoid, but she felt as if someone was watching her.

Oh, but she wasn't just being paranoid.

"Where are you going, Hermione?" Ron said as he walked up to her, rubbing his eyes.

Hermione nearly jumped out of surprise "Ron!" she breathed. "Have you...have you been waiting up for me?"

He nodded groggily. "I knew you were sneaking out at night, now why?" he demanded.

"Umm...how exactly did you find out?" she asked insecurely.

Ron scowled. "That's besides the point. Now why?" he demanded, more forceful this time.

"I'm pretty sure I can look after myself," she said indignantly.

"Can not," he said back.

She laughed. "Honestly, you're just like-!" But she caught herself before she could finish, because she knew the mention of Mafoy's name would surely cause him to be upset.

"Like who?" he asked. "What's his name? Is that who you sneak out to go see?" he asked accusingly.

She rolled her eyes, but was nervous on the inside, because he was exactly right. "Look, it's not that big of a deal. You don't have to get so protective."

"Is it Malfoy?! There's been talk around the school that you two are a thing now; I didn't believe it for a second."

Hermione's face fell in time with her stomach. "What? What have people been saying?"

Ron crossed his arms. "They've been saying that you and _Malfoy_-our enemy, the bane of our existence, an evil, no good, heartless-"

"-I've got the message="

"-Evil, no good ferret-have been sneaking around together. And I'm not letting you go see him again, Hermione!"

She felt the tears starting to form but willed them not to fall. "What I do is my business and _none _of your concern," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "And for the record, we have _not _been sneaking around."

She heard Ron reply, but she whipped around so he wouldn't see the inevitable tears. She ran to her room and slammed the door; sneaking out was a bad idea anyways.

..

Hermione furiously scrubbed the floor with a toothbrush. Her arm was probably hurting, but thereswas no way to tell because her anger masked everything else. Getting the stains out of the steps in the Great Hall was almost therapeutic; she imagined each spot as Malfoy's face slowly fading away with each had stroke.

"Stupid...good-for-nothing...late...awful boy," she mumbled harshly to herself along with some other words that definitely should not be mentioned; words that that nobody even knew were in her vocabulary.

"You know, if you keep talking to yourself people are going to start thinking you're insane," Malfoy said as he strolled in lazily.

"You're fifteen minutes late," Hermione snarled, not bothering to look up from the granite steps. "You needed to clean the trophy room," she said simply and threw cleaning supplies at him without out looking up from a particularly tough, brown spot..

"Well, at least I showed up!" he said furiously and she saw from her perifiels that he threw his arms up in the air dramatically.

Hermione stopped scrubbing. That's right...she had ditched him.

"Where were you anyway?" Draco asked harshly.

"That's none of you business," she said sharply. That seemed to be the phrase of the week.

"Whatever, I don't even care," he said nonchalantly. "I guess you don't want to do these lessons anymore," he said with a childish pout. She never thought Malfoy and Ron could be so alike.

Ron...they hadn't spoken a word all day. She had tried numerous times but only ever got a grunt in response. When she asked him to pass the mashed potatoes at dinner, he had slammed them so hard on the table that a big glob flew right onto poor Neville's face.

"Fine."

"Fine."

Draco slowly walked towards the door, as if he were waiting for Hermione to stop him.

"I'm leaving," he said slowly as he inched towards the exit.

"Bye," she said and continued scrubbing.

"Seeya later, Granger." He climbed one step.

"Au revoir, Malfoy."

"Until tomorrow." He climbed one more step.

"Adios."

"I'm really leaving thi-"

"-I'm running out of languages, Malfoy," she said as she looked up to Malfoy who was now on the same step as she. "Now take the cleaning supplies and leave."

"Wow that's actually funny how you think I'm going to work. And it's even funnier how you think you're going to do work. And you know what's funnest?" He asked.

"Funnest isn't a word."

"What I'm about to show you is funnest," he said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I thought there weren't anymore lessons. Plus, we have to clean without magic."

Draco sighed. "I really am disappointed in you, Granger. You've already forgotten rule number three." He whipped out his wand and waved it wordlessly. The floor of the Great Hall was sparkling.

Though she would never admit it, Malfoy really was great at non-verbal magic.

"Cheat or find a way to get out of work so…" he looked at her expectantly for an answer like a parent asking a child.

She rolled her eyes. "So you can spend more time having fun," she said grudgingly.

He smirked unpleasantly and turned for the door.

Hermione got up and followed. "How do you have a wand anyways?" she asked. "Burbarge took them away."

"Simple," he said as he opened the large doors, "I took it from Goyle."

"He just lets you take his wand whenever you need it?" she asked.

He barked a laugh. "I've got both Crabbe and Goyle wrapped around my finger."

Draco walked through the outside path with Hermione trailing behind. The sun was setting and Hermione flicked her eyes towards the lake remembering the feeling of the electric water on her skin. She she inhaled the fresh air gratefully and shivered.

"You really should treat your friends better, Malfoy," she said disapprovingly and stowing away the memory of the lake.

"I wouldn't call them 'friends'; they're more like allies," he said. "We have each other's backs when needed; nothing more than that."

"Well it seems like they're the ones who have your back more than anything," she scoffed.

"You know nothing, Granger," he said. "They would be nothing without me. My status and connections have made them who they are today."

Hermione stopped in her tracks and stared at him blankly. "That makes absolutely no sense."

"I wouldn't expect someone like _you _to understand," said Draco. "Status obviously means nothing to you."

"I have a lot more important things to worry about," she replied with her arms crossed. "Where are we going, anyways?"

"The Forbidden Forest," he said simply.

Hermione stopped again.

"Would you quit stopping, Granger? We haven't got all night."  
>"Woah, woah there. There's <em>no<em> way I'm going into the Forbidden Forest wandless and with my enemy," she said.

"I thought of your uncanny ability of not being able to trust people," said Draco as if her were the most clever man in the world. Hehe extended a short, fat wand. "I grabbed Crabbe's."

Warily, she grabbed the wand.

Draco rolled his eyes. "It's not going to spontaneously combust, Granger."

Hermione tentatively casted a few simple spells on the wand. It was unfamiliar but it worked. "You better not pull any funny business, Malfoy," she warned.

He smirked wickedly. "Do I ever?"

..

The edge of the Forbidden Forest looked incredibly ominous looming over the two of them. They stood with their heads looking straight up to the tops of the trees. The sun was almost set now, casting long, creepy shadows all around them. "Do you remember First Year?" Hermione asked as she looked up to the top of the treetops.

"Clearly," said Draco as he shuddered at the thought of seeing Voldemort drinking unicorn's blood. "Rule number five: quit being scared of everything."

"Why should I trust that you're not going to pull anything?"

"Rule number six: don't trust me."

Hermione clutched the new wand firmly before preceding. "So what was that thing about Cho Chang you were talking about earlier?" Hermione asked to distract herself from the darkness that surrounded them as they entered the forest.

A nearby rustling made her almost jump out of her skin. "What was that?" she asked breathlessly, forgetting about her precious question.

"I don't have super vision, Granger!" hissed Malfoy. "This is a forest; animals live here!"

"Right, right," she said as she nodded feverishly. "Animals. Probably like a Flobberworm or something." The nodding wasn't helping to reassure her.

But the dark, large creature that emerged from behind a tree was definitely not a Flobberworm. Hermione yelped quietly to not alarm the figure and clutched to Malfoy.

"Would you get off of me?" he asked in disgust as he peeled her off of his arm.

She pointed towards the shadow with a trembling finger and her mouth wide open.

"What are you gaping at? There's nothing there. Now come on," he said as he pulled her by the sleeve.  
>The creature followed with a loud clunks. Draco froze upon hearing the noise and turned around to the source. The shadowy figure came into view; a large, black horse with enormous wings.<p>

Hermione sighed with relief. "Phew," she said. "It's just a Thestral."

"Have you gone mad? There's nothing there!" Draco said frantically. His eyes darted around looking both for the creature and means to escape.

"Did you not pay attention at all during Care of Magical Creatures?" asked Hermione.

"I didn't, actually."

"Only people who have seen someone die can see Thestrals. They get a bad rep, but they're harmless," she said. She extended an arm towards the creatures slowly. After a moments hesitation, the skinny creature leaned into her touch.

"There's nothing there, Granger," he said with an eye roll. His demeanor had relaxed. "You're messing with me."

Without responding, she grabbed his hand in one fluid motion and put it on the creature's horned back. Draco stiffened; he wasn't sure if it was from her touch or the feel of the seemingly thin air. The Thestral whined quietly.

"Calm down," Hermione ordered. "It can sense fear."

Draco swallowed and took in a deep breath. After the Thestral calmed, Hermione moved Draco's hand to it's snout and he felt the warm air through the animal's nostrils. All was silent for a few moments as Malfoy stroked the invisible nose. He felt a strange feeling flow through as he became more aware of the animal with senses beyond sight.

"Who did you see die?" he asked.

Hermione was glad that he couldn't see her beet-red face though the darkness. She remembered the year prior at the Ministry and had to swallow the lump in her throat. Though it was dark, Hermione saw the startling similarities between Malfoy and his father: the pointed face, the blonde hair, the light eyes. She remembered his father with same face, hair, and gray eyes staring at her with his wand pointed. She wondered if Draco knew about him. "It-it doesn't matter."

For once, Malfoy didn't press the subject.

..

"Do you have an obsession with bodies of water?" asked Hermione as she stared at a lake far more grand and large than the one they had swam in before.

He shrugged. "It's calming," he said.

"And let me guess, you bring Pansy out here all the time, too?" she asked.

"No actually," he said harshly as he plopped on the mushy grass. "I've only ever been out here by myself."

"Ooh, and what makes you think I can be trusted with your secret getaway?" asked Hermione asked as she sat next to him. She looked at the moonlight streaming through the trees and casting a glow on the whole lake; she had to admit that it was relaxing.

"Simple," he said as he threw a rock in the lake. "You're too afraid of getting in trouble to tell anyone."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh quietly at the truth of that statement. "And how is this supposed to teach me how to have fun?" she asked.

"I have no idea," he admitted. "I didn't think you get this far."

Abruptly, Hermione pushed him over the edge into the lake.

"What was that for?!" he yelled as he resurfaced.

She smiled. "Just following rule number one."

He smirked and pulled her into the lake with him.


End file.
